TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Six one-goal games. Four overtime games. Now, Game 7.
It’s a fitting way to decide the Canadiens-Lightning series on Sunday night.
Gage Goncalves extended Tampa Bay’s season with an overtime goal Friday night, forcing Montreal back on the road to try to close out a thrilling Eastern Conference opening-round series.
“We haven’t won anything yet,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “All we did was win a game to send us back to Tampa and
keep our season alive. You don’t want to rain on the parade. ... but we haven’t accomplished anything yet.”
Both teams have each won twice on the road in the series and home ice has not been an advantage for the Lightning in the postseason. They are just 2-10 in their last 12 playoff games in Tampa Bay, where a raucous crowd always shows up — 460 consecutive sellouts.
How even are these teams?
The score has been tied or within one goal for all but six minutes in the series. Each team has 14 goals, including nine in 5-on-5 play.
“In 14 years in the league, I’ve been in a number of Game 7s, some where we weren’t as good as the other team and some where I thought we were as good as the other team,” Cooper said. “And this right here is so even from special teams to the goaltending to everything and that’s how you get Game 7s. To win this, you have to have a special game from your team. I’m assuming the team that wins is going to get one more break than the other one.”
After falling two wins short of a Stanley Cup three-peat in 2022, the Lightning were eliminated in the first round each of the past three seasons.
The Canadiens are chasing their first series victory in five years.
“You’ve just got to embrace the situation,” said Canadiens coach and Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, who won some Game 7s as a player in Tampa Bay. “Things are meant to be. Things are meant to be for our growth, things are meant to be that we’re playing a Game 7. I think it’s going to help us pull toward what’s next for us.”
When/Where to Watch: Game 1, Sunday, 6 p.m. EDT (TNT).
Series: Tied 3-3.
The Lightning are 7-3 in Game 7s, including 4-1 in Tampa Bay. They beat Toronto in Game 7 to close out a first-round series in 2022 in their last winner-take-all game.
The Canadiens are 15-9 in Game 7s, including 7-6 on the road.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves for Tampa Bay for his eighth career playoff shutout in Game 6. The Vezina Trophy finalist and two-time Cup winner is used to the pressure.
It’ll be the first Game 7 for Canadiens rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes, who has been outstanding in the series.
Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel has six goals in six games.
When/Where to Watch: Game 1, Sunday, 9 p.m. EDT (TNT).
Series: Second-round opener.
These two Central Division foes know each other well. Both teams were 2-1-1 against each other this season, given the NHL’s point system. They each won a game in regulation and lost in a shootout. Not only that, but the matchup features seven players who were in the gold-medal game — won by Team USA — at this year's Milan Cortina Olympics.
The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche and Wild are meeting for just the fourth time in the postseason. The last time these two teams met was the first round of the 2014 playoffs when Minnesota won Game 7 in overtime. Avalanche standout Nathan MacKinnon made his playoff debut in that series. The Wild also won the 2003 conference quarterfinals in seven games over Colorado, while the Avalanche captured a 2008 conference quarterfinals series in six games.
“It’s going to be a really hard series,” Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes said. “They’ve got some ultra-competitive guys, too. It’s a great challenge for us. We’re going to be looking forward to it.”
___
AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
